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On Wednesday 25 September in the Oppenheimer Meeting Room of the
Leonardo Building, ICTP Senior Associate Pius Mpiana Tshimankinda
will discuss his concerted efforts and achievements in reducing the
devastating effects of a genetic disease ravaging tens of thousands
of children throughout his home country, the Democratic Republic of
Congo. The presentation, "Biophysics of medicinal plants and
sickle cell disease," is part of a series of talks by ICTP's
Applied Physics section and will start at 15:30 pm.
The hundreds of thousands inflicted with sickle cell disease (SCD)
worldwide contract the blood disorder while still a fetus. When
born, their red blood cells take on a crescent moon-like shape and
die off more quickly than healthy, circular red blood cells. With
fewer red blood cells, SCD often leads to sickle cell anemia (SCA),
the disease that claimed two of Tshimankinda's brothers' lives and
that Tshimankinda has dedicated his career to studying.
In 2010, 57 percent of newborns with SCA were born in the
Democratic Republic of Congo, India or Nigeria. Although there is
no cure, those with SCA can lead relatively regular lives as long
as they eat plenty of healthy food, drink 8 to 10 glasses of water
a day and avoid infections, like the flu--a lifestyle that is
difficult to achieve for many in developing countries.
Therefore, Tshimankinda and his team at the University of Kinshasa
are researching various methods on how to relieve individuals from
the disease's symptoms like dizziness, jaundice and shortness of
breath. He and his team have isolated specific molecules, like
betulinic and oleonolic acid, from various plants and found that
these molecules can induce an anti-sickling behavior of red blood
cells, thus reducing the effects of SCA.
They have found noted success with medicinal plant extracts from
plants indigenous to the Democratic Republic of Congo and therefore
inexpensive to obtain and transport.
"Ultimately, I would like it if we could transform these molecules
into some form of drug that people with sickle cell anemia could
then take," Tshimankinda says. "We hope to interact with
pharmaceutical companies to eventually make this possibility a
reality."
Tshimankinda holds the patent "In vitro anti-sickling activity of
betulinic acid, oleonolic acid and their derivatives" and was
awarded the Diploma and medal of scientific merit of the Democratic
Republic of Congo in 2010, the African Prize for Liberty and
Development in 2009 and the Diploma of Honor and Merit as Best
Congolese Professor in 2008.
